Safety-brake mechanism.



. No. 696,!46. Patented Dec. 3l, |90| W( W. HARMON.

SAFETY BRAKE MECHANISM.

(Application tiled Feb. 25, 1901.) (No Model.) 2 sheetssheei i.

Tn: cams venas co.. PuooLlTno, msumnmw uv n Nu. 690,146. Patenfeujnec.3|, :90|A w. w. HARMoN.

SAFETY BRAKE MECHANISM.

'Application'flled Feb. 25, 1901.!

2. Sheets-.Sheet 2.

UNTTED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

IVILLIAM VILLMOTT HARMON, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

SAFETY-BRAKE MEcHANlsn/i.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 690,146, dated December31, 1901.

Application filed February 25, 1901l Serial No. 48,688. (No model.)

To all whom, t may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM WILLMorr HARMON, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State ofMassachusetts, have invented new and useful Improvements in Safety-BrakeMechanism, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to mechanism for conveyances propelled by steam,electricity, gasolene, or other motive power, and has for its object toshut off or disconnect said steam, electricity, or other motive powerfrom the mechanism which propels said conveyance simultaneously with orimmediately preceding the application of the brake to said mechanism. Inconveyances of the character hereinbefore referred to as heretoforeconstructed the driver shuts od or disconnects said motive power fromthe engine by operating one lever or other disconnecting means andsubsequently applies the brake with another lever. Many accidents have,however, resulted from the fact that the driver, through carelessness orforgetfulness, has neglected to shut off the motive power beforeapplying the brake, and these accidents are especially liable to occurwhere it becomes necessary to stop the carriage quickly, as the driverbecomes rattled and is liable to apply the brake before shutting off thepower.

In the following specification I have described my invention, and in thedrawings illustrated the same, as applied to a steamcarriage orautomobile; but I do not wish to be understood as limiting my inventionto its application to this particular kind of conveyance, as the samemay be used by slight adaptations to existing conditions for conveyancesusing electricity, gasolene, or other motive power.

When the brake is applied to the automobile before closing the throttle,the result will be to throw the occupants forward over the dasher intothe road. The carriage, left to itself, runs away, causing damage. Ifthe brake is applied slightly without shutting the throttle, so that theresults hereinbefore recited do not occur, the boiler will eject orcough up the water therein through the throttle in to the cylinder andout through the exhaust, leaving the operator practically helpless, theconsequence being that the boiler becomes practically empty andnecessitates the filling thereof, which necessity is beyond the abilityof all but the practical engineer to carry out.

The object of this invention is, therefore, to overcome the difficultieshereinbefore recited by preventing even the possible occurrence thereof.

Theinvention consists in an improved mechanism for applying the brake tovehicles propelled by steam, electricity, or other motive power, saidmechanism so constructed and arranged as to shut off said motive powersimultaneously with or immediately preceding the application of thebrake to the propelling mechanism of said vehicle.

The invention further consists in mechanism constructed and arranged ashereinbefore set forth and also so constructed and arranged that thethrottle may be manipulated independently of the brake mechanism.

The invention further consists in the combination and arrangement ofparts set forth in the following specification, and particularly pointedout in the claims thereof.

Referring to the drawings, Figure l is a perspective View of my improvedsafety-brake mechanism with the throttle-valve and levers connectedthereto, the outline of a portion of the carriage-body being shown indotted lines. Fig. 2 is a detail side elevation of the boiler, throttle,and the lever connected to the brake the throttle open. Fig. 3 is anenlarged detail side elevation of the spring-latch 82.

Fig. t is a detail side elevation of the rockerarm 23. Fig. 5 is adetail side elevation of a modified form of the throttle-lever andactuating mechanism therefor.

Like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several views of thedrawings.

In the drawings, 5 is the treadle or foot lever by which the brake isactuated. Said lever is fast to a treadle rock-shaft 6, which rocks inbearings 7 7, fast to the sides of the carriage-body 8, and is connectedby a brakerod 9 to a rook-lever 10, fast to a rock-shaft l1, havingbearings (not shown) fast to the frame of the machine. The lever 10 hasan eccentric hub 12 fast thereto, to which is attached one end of afriction-belt 13. The

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. body s.

and forward to open it.

other end of said beit is fast to a fixed pin 14, and the intermediateportion thereof encircles a friction brake-pulley 15, fast to the rearaxle 16 of the carriage.

The brake is applied by the operator pushing with his foot against thebrake-lever 5 and rocking the lever to the right, Fig. 2, thus coilingthe strap 13 around the brakepulley 15 and applying friction thereto tostop the carriage.

The hereinbefore-described brake mechanism is old and well known tothose skilled in the art. The throttle-valve 17 is connected to thevboiler 18 by a pipe 19 and 'to the engine by a pipe 20. The stem 21 ofthe valve 17 is connected by a pin 22 to a rocker-arm 23, fast to athrottle rock-shaft 24, arranged to rock in bearings 25, fast to thecarriage- The valve-stein 21 is forked at 26 to embrace the end of thearm 23. The pin 22 is fast thereto and slides in a slot 27 in therocker-arm 23. The throttle rocker-shaft 24 has a hand-lever 28 fastthereto, by means of which the throttle-valve is controlled, said leverbeing thrown back to close the valve The throttle-valve 17 is soarranged and constructed that when the valve-stem is drawn forward or tothe right, Figs. 1 and 2, the valve will be closed, and vice versa.

The hand-lever 28 is used in the ordinary manipulation of thethrottle-valve but in order to close said throttle upon the applicationof the brake or just preceding the same I provide a rocker-arm 29, fastto the treadle rock-shaft 6 and connected by a link 30 to the lower endof a lever 31, pivoted at 46 to a bracket 47, fast to the carriage-bod y8. -When the brake-treadle is pushed forward, as hereinbeforedescribed,in order to apply the brake, the upper end of the lever 3lwill be rocked to the left and will contact with a springlatch 32,pivoted at 33 to a rocker-arm 34, fast to an intermediate rock-shaft 35.The intermediate rock-shaft 35 rocks in bearings 36 36, fast to thecarriage-frame 8, and has a rocker-arm 37 fast thereto. The rockerarm 37is forked at 38 to engage the two projecting ends of the pin 22, andwhen the lever 31 contacts with the latch 32 it rocks the arm 34 to theleft, Fig. 2, rocking the intermediate rock-shaft 35 and the rocker-arm37y from the position shown in Fig. 2 toward the right in said figure,drawing the valve-stem 2l-to the right and closing the throttle. Thelever-arm 3l rocks the rocker-arm 34 to the left until the lower end ofthe latch 32 clears the upper end of said lever, whereupon therocker-arm 34is drawn back byaspiral spring 39 until it strikes againstthe stationary stoppin 40. When the operator releases the treadle, thelever 3l is drawn back against the stop 41 by the spring 42.

The latch 32 has a flat face 43 thereon above and at the left-hand sideof the pivot 33, Fig. 3. Said face 43 is held normally against aprojection 44 on the rocker-arm 34 bya fiat spring 45. When the lever 3lis drawn backl against the stop 41 by the spring 42, the latch 32 yieldsand allows said lever to pass without rocking the arm 34. y

The operation of the mechanism as a whole is as follows: Assuming thevehicle to be in motion and that the parts are in the respectivepositions shown in Figs. 1 aud-2, the driver vshould iirst shut oft' thethrottle by means of anism may be employed whereby the throttlc-valve orother device for regulating the supply of motive power to the engine maybe operated by the brake mechanism without departing from the spirit ofmy invention, and in Fig. 5 I have illustrated a modified mechanism forclosing the throttle-valve, in which 48 is a hand-lever which takes theplace of the lever 28 and is extended below the throttle rock-shaft 24,to which it is fastened. Said lever 48 has a spring-latch 49 pivotedthereto, which engages a lever 50, connected to the brake ymechanism bya link 51.

The operation ofthe lever 50 and the link 51 is the same in relation tothe lever 48 as that hereinbefore described of the lever 31 and link 30in relation to the rocker-arm 34, and the throttle rock-shaft 24 isrocked in the same direction as hereinbefore described to close thethrottle-valve 17 when the brake mechanism is operated.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire by LettersPatent to secure, is-

1. In a motor-vehicle, a throttle rock-shaft, a treadle rock-shaft, anintermediate rockshaft, a throttle-valve, a throttle-valve stemoperatively connected to said throttle rockshaft, a brake mechanismoperatively connected to said treadle rock-shaft, and mechanismconnecting said rock-shafts in such a manner that when said treadlerock-shaft is given a forward movement to apply the brake mechanism,said intermediate and throttle rock-shafts will be rocked to close saidthrottle-valve;

2. In a motor-vehicle, a throttle rock-shaft, a treadle rock-shaft, anintermediate rockshaft, a throttle-valve, a throttle-valve ste-moperatively connected to said throttle rockshaft, a brake mechanismoperatively con- IOO IIO

tle-valve, and means to independently rock said throttle rock-shaft andopen and close said throttle-valve.

3. In a motor-vehicle7 a throttle rock-shaft, a treadle rock-shaft, anintermediate rockshaft, a throttlewalve, a throttle-valve stemoperatively connected to said throttle rockshaft, a brake mechanismoperatively connected to said treadle rock-shaft, and mech anismconnecting said rock-shafts in such a manner that when said treadlerock-shaft is given a forward movement to apply the brake Inechanism,said intermediate and throttle rock-shafts Will be rocked to close saidthrottle-valve, and upon the return movement of said treadle rock-sh aft said brake mechanism will be released and said throttle-valve Willremain closed.

4. In a motor-vehicle, a throttle rockshaft, a treadle rock-shaft, anintermediate rockshaft, a throttle-valve, a throttle-valve stemoperatively connected to said throttle rockshatt, a brake mechanismoperatively connected to said treadle rock-shaft, and mechanismconnecting said rock-shafts in such a manner that when said treadlerock-shaft is given a forward movement to apply the brake mechanism,said intermediate and throttle rock-shafts Will be rocked to close saidthrottie-valve, and upon the return movement of said treadle rocloshaftsaid throttle and intermediate roclnshafts Will remain stationary.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM WILLMOTT llARlllON.

Witnesses:

CHARLES S. GooDING, WARREN W. C. SPENCER.

